Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke on Monday (May 17) said if a thorough investigation reveals bowlers’ involvement in the ball-tampering plot of the 2018 Cape Town Test.
Australian cricket was shaken to the core after cameras had caught Cameron Bancroft using sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball at Newlands. As a result, then captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner were slapped 12-month bans while Bancroft was handed a nine-month suspension under Cricket Australia's Code of Conduct.
The matter resurfaced again after Bancroft recently alleged that the Australian bowlers were also aware of the entire plot.
“If you are playing sport at the highest level you know your tools that good it’s not funny. Can you imagine that ball being thrown back to the bowler and the bowler not knowing about it? Please,” Clarke told Sky Sports radio.
“I love how the articles in the paper are, ‘It is such a big surprise that Cameron Bancroft has made a …’ Actually, if you read his quotes, it is not what he did say as what he didn’t say in regards to other people knowing about ‘sandpapergate’,” he added.
After Bancroft’s revelation, Cricket Australia issued a statement, saying that they are open to reinvestigate the incident if anyone comes forward with new information.
“What’s the surprise? That more than three people knew? I don’t think anybody who has played the game of cricket, or knows a little bit about cricket, would know that in a team like that, at the highest level, when the ball is such an important part of the game,” Clarke said.
“I don’t think anybody is surprised that more than three people knew about it.”
Former Australia bowling coach David Sekar, who was part of the team during the 2018 Test series in South Africa, on Sunday (May 16) called the ball-tampering saga a “monumental mistake” which could have been prevented and fingers can also be pointed at him for the disgraceful incident.
